Having recently had an annoying cough and seeing quite a few “armageddon” type skies (i.e – the non-clear blue sky variety) I have decided to post a handy article and “health tool” link that will keep you up to date with the quality of your local air. Unfortunately this issue looks like becoming a huge health factor in the years to come so for you and your family’s sake let’s get aware of it!
I would like to thank my good friend Neil for putting me onto this. He is a pre-school teacher at QSI International and this is what he had to say on the matter………
With the Health and Fitness push we are working on, one very serious point to inform our children and their families of is the air pollution levels we suffer from on occasions. It occurred to me, why not let the children and their families know about certain apps or sites that can inform us of the cities air quality?!
I just shared with Adam that I use an app on my IPhone called ‘Air Quality China’ which shows the readings of many cities all over China and it offers a very thorough breakdown of the different pollutant levels, including the most dangerous one PM2.5. It is affiliated with Nike Sports and quite simply under World Health Organisation guidelines it recommends ‘no physical exertion’ on certain days (today being one such day)! Scientists have been stating for a while now that PM2.5 is very dangerous, as it enters the body easily and cannot be filtered out or dispersed due to being so small. It basically builds up in the lung tissue and you have it for life! Worldwide health records are stated as showing a significant rise in cases of life threatening diseases such as cancer in middle aged people, within heavily polluted global cities!
This has really made me think that we should be informing our children of the potential dangers of such air and in particular the fact that if exercising in it, you are just sucking in more of it! This is a very serious concern for China in relation to long term health effects on its population and our Health and Fitness message is all about ‘look after yourself for life’.
I feel that this is one point which is all too easy to ignore and have a sort of ‘Oh it’s all-right really’ attitude towards. I’m not saying we need to all stay indoors and lock down, but it is definitely something we should all be more informed and concerned about I feel. We could simply send a letter home about this, recommending that app to all and encouraging them to consider the situation, all because we care for our children and their families so much.
The level today as I write is sitting at 119, which is a ‘don’t exercise and reduce outdoor activity’ recommendation.
Not nice to know that we are breathing in such air but good to acknowledge it and think about taking care within it!
All the best,
Neil
The link you should go to to check out your cities current pollution index and rating is: http://aqicn.org/city/zhuhai/
Please remember. Even if the APP suggests you should stay indoors, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t exercise! Our job is to find the right balance 🙂
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